Explanation for why Phantom Liberty will serve as the exclusive expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, clarified by CD Projekt

CD Projekt has explained why Cyberpunk 2077 is only set to receive a single expansion.

Technological Decision behind the Single Expansion

Shortly after its announcement last September, CD Projekt said the upcoming Phantom Liberty was the only planned expansion for the sci-fi RPG.

During a Q&A session, CD Projekt was asked how many Phantom Liberty sales might convince it to make a second expansion for the game.

“The decision has actually been made,” replied SVP of business development Michał Nowakowski. “As we have announced a long time ago, we’re not going to make a second or third expansion. This is the only expansion of the game, and it has nothing to do with the numbers and how satisfied or not we are with sales or anything of the kind.

“It’s a technological decision to be honest,” he continued. “This is the last time we’re working on the Red Engine for the time being at least, and in the foreseeable future as you know we are working on the Unreal Engine from Epic. This was one of the key reasons why we decided this was the only one.”

Collaboration with Epic and Future Plans

Alongside the news that it was working on the next mainline Witcher game, CD Projekt announced in March 2022 that it had entered into a 15-year partnership with Epic that would see the companies collaborate on Unreal Engine projects including engine and game development.

Phantom Liberty and Game Updates

Set for release on September 26, Phantom Liberty promises to entirely overhaul the way Cyberpunk 2077 is played, according to CD Projekt.

In an interview in June, creative director Pawel Sasko and quest designer Despoina Anetaki told VGC that “all the core main systems” of the game have been “redone or updated in a major way”.

Gameplay designer Yulia Pryimak showcased some of these new features, including vehicle combat, during Gamescom Opening Night Live last week.

It was also announced that some of the new features introduced in Phantom Liberty will be added to the base game as part of Update 2.0, which will be available for current-gen consoles and PC.

Future Development and Expansion Team

Following Phantom Liberty’s release, the next Cyberpunk game, Project Orion, will begin development at a new US-based studio called CD Projekt Red North America.

Elsewhere during its earnings call, CD Projekt said almost 260 developers are working on the next mainline The Witcher game, and that “a big part” of Phantom Liberty’s 300-strong team will transfer to the game after the expansion’s release.